oct 20 2012 Magic can happen!

so I am writing to start a thread as i could not find one on the meets board. We are going on the Magic out of Galveston on Oct 20-27 2012. this is our first cruise, but not our first disney trip so are looking forward to seeing the differences and similarities to WDW. For me the magic is twofold, our youngest will turn 12 on the trip and i never thought i would get my husband on a cruise as he has a serious fear of open water But he still is willing to do this for me Would love to hear from others who will be going , and would love to hear any suggestions that others will have . thanks patman 2011 wife.

ok, so i finally figured out how to post a link on here, so i posted it to the links thread, hopefully making it easier to find for others. I am sure that there are others here that a going the same time ; would love to get with others going at the same time. Also, is there a kids website where my girls will be able to touch base with others going on the same time? I am trying to get them to start getting excited about going. thanks for all help and have a great week!

are sailing with you. The cruise leaves on my 55th birthday so I guess it is a good reason to celebrate. I booked on my Wonder cruise two weeks ago but since he wasn't there (he had to work) he doesn't realize what a great birthday present he bought me Anyhow John and I...although we have 3 kids and 5 grand kids they are all staying home. We live in Fort Worth so it is a 4 hour drive to the port. We have sailed out of Galveston numerous times and are looking forward to driving...not flying to a disney ship.

hello ma'am!!
we were starting to worry that we would be the only Dis'ers going on this cruise!!! This will be our first cruise, dh does not like the water much, but with the cruise so close to us, we just couldnt pass it up!
We have gone to WDW 3 times and we normally like to plan and meet up with others here on the boards.
Could i ask you a ? We are driving up from SA and how far is parking from the docking? Is it similiar to the airport long range parking ? We are not sure.
Glad you are onboard!

to park in Galveston. We usually park at Lighthouse parking which is within walking distance from the pier but they also have shuttle service which is very quick. It is about 45.00 for the week I think if you sign up on line and pre-pay. I can confirm the cost in about a month because I am taking the Carnival "Magic" from Galveston on its inaugural voyage

Good morning!
We are going with you! We are a family of four....my husband, son..16 and daughter that will be 10 then, and me! We are excited to go on the Magic again..We have sailed the Magic out of Port Canaveral and Barcelona before. We also have other family and friends going with us..(so far 6 cabins). And llachance, we have alot of family members sailing on the Carnival Magic on the same Inaugural voyage!!!

Hello!
I am so glad to meet you! This will be our first cruise, we are going with our DD 14 and our DD who will turn 12 on the cruise I am so looking forward to doing this, we have gone to the World a couple of times, and the planning is kind of half the fun! I see that you all are in Tx as well, that is one of the reasons that we could afford this trip. will be following this thread to see who else is going!

We are not first time cruisers but we are first time Disney cruisers. We have a son who will be traveling by cruise for the first time (he will be 8 at the time of the trip). I have heard of the fish hooks that are outside the cabin doors that are meant for FE groups. This is a group called Fish Extenders and serve like stockings. Everyday you give and recieve treats in them. Does anyone else know about this?

We are on this cruise as well. We are a family of four, two little girls 6 and 4 at the time of sailing. This will be our second Disney cruise and second on the Magic. We live only about 30 minutes from the port so we couldn't miss the opportunity to sail with the mouse so close to home.

I think we can start our own FE group right here on this thread, that's what my last cruise did. Someone said they would be the organizer and asked that folks PM her with their names, ages of children and room number by a certain date. She had a spreadsheet with everyone that she posted on the board and updated prior to sailing.

That's awesome, Is that how FE's usually work? We will know exactly where and who our fellow FE'ers are and will be? This is our first cruise and want the kids to be able to get the most out of it. We have 2 rooms since my parents are traveling with us and the kids are going to make an FE for their Mimi and Papi as well. My DD will be 4 and my DS will be 3 at the time of sailing. We are so excited!

I'm not sure if that's how all FE's work, maybe some groups have a separate thread. But definitely we have to know where all the people are to drop off the FE's and how many cabins are participating so we know how many gifts to buy before we go. That's why there was a cutoff date, so we could get a total head count with enough time to still buy/assemble/make gifts. I think a month before the cruise is a good time frame.

I noticed on our cruise that there were FEs on cabins that were not part of our exchange. Specifically there were 4 cabins right near me that must've been a big group sailing and they just exchanged amongst themselves.

The lady who kept the list for us also had a dry erase board on her cabin door where she listed changes. So if people do a port upgrade or have a cabin change for some reason then she had a way to communicate with the rest of us. It was helpful to start with her cabin when passing out gifts.

It really was great fun for the kids to come back to the cabin and find presents.

Our last cruise was really last minute, we booked about 5 weeks from sailing because there was a sale and we planned to be in Florida anyway. I am so excited for this cruise where I can plan ahead. I am especially excited to make door magnets. There were some really amazingly decorated doors and I at least want a few things on mine this time!

Hello - We are going on this cruise too. Just me and my other half. My daughter is in college and won't be joining us (she doesn't want to skip school YAY). Another family is traveling with us. They are so far a group of 4 but could change to 5 by sail time. They have an 18 year old son and an 11 year old daughter.

We are so excited that Disney decided to sail out of TX. Only an hour from us!! Most of us in our group have never cruised before, Disney or otherwise.